Happy Endings
by dilly2
Summary: *CHAPTER 5 NOW UP* Deep within a mountain, Dornkirk's legacy lives on and threatens the peace of Gaea. Van, Alan, Merle, Celena and Dryden must save Gaea again and maybe find some peace for themselves.
1. Forgotten Child

Kiteal sat alone in the darkness listening to the hum of the large machine that surrounded him. 

"Father," he said aloud. 

The machine continued its monotone hum. 

"Father, I'm finishing it. The girl from the Mystic Moon is gone now, Father. She's not coming back, she made her decision. Now, I have made mine," 

He leaned forward and reached blindly for the lever connected to the machine. He pushed it up with all of his strength. The machine came to life. Lights flashed and the dull hum raised its pitch in steps. The room lit up for the first time since Dornkirk had left it years ago hidden in the Mountain of the Damned. He had known that the mountain was infamously known and never visited by even the bravest man or woman on Gaea.

Kiteal stood and looked around the room, his eyes wide and his mouth twisted into a smile.

He cried out in ecstasy and spun around, looking at everything that his father had left. The floor beneath him began to shift. He let out a squeal and jumped to safety, outside of the ring of machinery. The floor slid away, revealing a huge orb of crystalline blue

A light shot up from it and materialized into his father's face. The old man's hologram loomed over Kiteal. It began to speak.

"Whoever has found this has found the means to control Fate. I care not who you are for you are brave to have come so far. To control Fate you must first control this machinery. The panel requires another. You must find someone from the Mystic Moon and bring them here. The machine will aid you in this. You must press this button."

A blue button lit up on the panel. Kiteal extended his hand and did as his father had instructed. Dornkirk's face dissolved and in it's place came another image. A young man with pale blonde hair and cerulean eyes sitting at a small desk in a small classroom. His father's voice came again.

"This is the person that you will choose for your partner."

Kiteal grinned. 

***

"Do you believe in fate, Caleb?"

He looked over at the new girl that had sat next to him for two days in total silence. For a moment he wondered if she had really said something or if it was just one of the dream-voices he often heard. She was looking at him expectantly, so he guessed that it had been real.

"I guess. Why?"

"I don't know, I just sorta felt like asking you."

They stared at each other for a moment.

"But..."

"Is there something you would like to tell the class, Mr. Johnson?" The teacher's stern voice tore through him and he sat straight again, with his eyes forward.

"No, Mrs. Kimble."

The teacher nodded and turned to continue writing geography notes on the board. He began to scribble the notes down. After a few moments a small, folded paper slid onto his desk. He glanced at the girl that sat next to him and she smiled back. He unfolded the paper cautiously under his desk so that he wouldn't get into any more trouble. He read it slowly, three times, each time amazed. 

In curly letters with hearts replacing the i's it read: 

_Find me after school by the bus stop. I want to talk to you.  
~Candice_

He folded the paper quickly and slid it into his desk. He looked at her again and nodded silently. 

***

Rain pelted the bench that Caleb sat on. A bus groaned to a stop in front of him, a herd of students crowded onto it and it roared away. Another bus did the same. Another, and another, until there were no more to come and go. The wind became colder and the rain more fierce. Caleb gave up. 

_ It was a joke. It was just a joke and she's hiding somewhere with her friends and laughing at me right now, the dork who thought the pretty girl wanted to meet and talk to him. _

He stood slowly, took a deep breath and began his trek home. Before he had reached the railroad tracks that separated the school from his home, he saw her. He blinked and squinted through his rain drop-spotted glasses. 

She was standing in the rain, which was soaking her creamy yellow cardigan, and was waving to him from across the tracks. He ran to her. He was quite out of breath when he reached her.

"Candice, I..."

"Caleb there's something wrong. My foot is stuck in the mud. I was going home before I realized that I needed to meet you and my foot got stuck while I was coming back to find you."

Caleb looked down and saw her foot immersed in mud up to the top of her once white socks. He threw his bag down and kneeled before her, digging into the mud to free her. As he worked her heard her say something. It sounded like a prayer, so he ignored it. He didn't want to embarrass her. 

Finally, he found her small black shoe at the bottom of it all and told her to help him pull it out. She did nothing as he tugged. He looked up to her. There was a shining blue aura crowning her. He thought it must be some trick of his glasses and the rain.

"P-please help me get your foot out, Candice." 

She smiled down at him and the blue light became brighter and surrounded them both. He felt himself rising off of the ground.

"Candice! What's going on?!"

She continued to smile as they rose up into the sky together.


	2. Lost Souls

Merle jumped up the half restored building, from one beam or hole to the next. People below yelled into the pale evening air for her to stop, but she ignored them, caring only to reach the top. That's where Van-sama was. She pulled herself up onto the roof of the building where Van-sama was sitting, calmly eating some bread and staring at the Mystic Moon. His tools were set aside for his moment's rest.

He didn't notice the small cat-girl until she had seized his left arm and snuggled in a sitting position next to him. She rested her head against his shoulder and stared up at the blue moon with him. 

"How's she doing?"

Van smiled and gulped down a hunk of bread. "She's fine." Merle looked away from Hitomi's home and stared down at the tools near her knees, her brows knit a little.

"What about _you_ Van?"

Van's eyes slowly traced the few stars that had come out down to the horizon of the building's roof rim then to Merle's amber hair. He patted down the stray strands that where always a little out of place on her head.

"I'm just glad that Fanelia is going to be okay again, and it's people." Van's tender laugh echoed against the empty evening. It felt as if the world below were as far away as the blue moon above. "It's good to feel comfortable again."

Merle looked up at him, into the expanse of this eyes. She could swear that, within his eyes, galaxies of stars glinted against the grey-blue velvet. Van looked into those loving amethysts glowing at him. He leaned forward a little, then a little more. His lips were not more than an inch away from Merle's before Hitomi's face flashed behind his eyes, searing his heart. He sat straight up suddenly and looked toward the moon again. 

Merle sat, still looking up at the subject of her idolatry. A flush of embarrassment and anger rose from her heart to her face. She stood quickly and ran back down the building, wondering if he even noticed her leave. 

***

Celena sat on the small white bench under shade of a young tree. Her brother was speaking to Milerna close enough for her to see them, but not close enough to hear what they said. Not that Celena cared, though she could tell by the side long glances that her brother gave her that he thought she did. She watched Milerna as she smiled and fluttered her lashes as Alan told some story with his hand planted on the hilt of his sword. They were both so beautiful. They seemed to glitter in the firelight that served to illuminate the small garden when the sun was on it's way down.

She sighed and looked down at her tiny, gloved hands in her lap. She clenched her right fist slowly, watching the white fabric crease and fold. It all seemed so _wrong_. The dress, the gloves, the tiny little red shoes, the layers and layers of itchy undergarments. The _damn_ corset. She sighed. When her brother had first given her those little shoes she had wondered how she was supposed to walk in them without breaking them in half, but somehow, when she walked the stayed together. All of this new attire was very...pretty...but when she got to her room at night she was very glad to throw it all in a heap on her floor for the maid to gather up later.

Etiquette said that she should appreciate all that her brother had done, but her mind said that he should let her wear what _she_ wanted to wear.

Her brother tapped her shoulder, disturbing her thoughts. She turned her head so fast to look up at him that her carefully pinned hair came out of place, falling into her sky blue eyes.

"It's getting late, little sister." He said quietly with a smile on his face that meant he was still thinking about Milerna.

Celena nodded and stood slowly, rearranged the accursed skirts, and took her honored brother's arm as he led her to her room. 

***

Dryden looked toward his empty bed with a sigh. He cursed quietly to himself as he slipped out of his layers of daytime clothing and into his night shirt. He pulled a book from his small book case and set it down on his desk. He looked at the loose papers, empty ink bottles and other assorted items that littered the surface of his desk and reminded himself that he needed to clean it someday.

He smirked to himself. "Someday seems to be a day that never comes."

He pulled back the wooden chair. It scrapped across the floor. It seemed like thunder in the endless silence of the small room. He sat opened the book.

"Seems like there should be better things for me to do before I sleep than read..."


	3. Boy from the Mystic Moon

Kiteal held the boy in his arms.

_Fainted from fear_, he thought.

He set the boy down on the metallic floor and kneeled by his side. He stared at the boy. Caleb was his name. His hair was soft and cut short and a large pair of glasses, speckled with rain, consealed his beauty with their frames. Kiteal removed them gently and set them aside. The boy stirred restlessly. A small sound escaped from his lips.

"Caleb?" Kiteal said softly.

The boy squinted up at Kiteal and his eyes became wide.

"C-Candice?" he struggled to sit up and Kiteal helped him.

"I am afraid that that is not truly my name. I am Kiteal. I apologize for deceiving you, but I am afraid that it was necissary."

Kiteal stood and watched with amusement as Caleb stared at the machine he had been set near with saucer eyes, but grimaced as he looked down at the muddy clothing he still wore.

"If you do not mind I must change out of this clothing. I imagine that you will want to do the same."

Caleb nodded shyly. Kiteal tossed him a pair of black pants and a white shirt before changing out of the dirty skirt and cardigan. He turned to find Caleb staring at him in the same way he had stared at the machine a few moments ago. Kiteal did not blame him. His breasts were bare and it was obvious by the bulge in his underclothing, that he was not simply a girl.

He quickly clothed himself, binding his breasts, and went back to the frightened boy, who seemed to have forgotten his own clothing.

"I know you must be confused. I was an experiment of my father's. He wanted to create a person of both genders, functional both ways. He later used other techniques to achieve this," Kiteal smiled kindly at Caleb. "Now, you must change. I am sure those muddy clothes are not entirely comfortable." 

***

Celena hadn't slept well for days. She covered the darkness under her eyes with powder. Her brother would have every doctor on Gaea come to examine her if he knew that something was wrong. But she knew that a doctor couldn't help her her with this.

Her dreams were haunted by his face. She didn't know who he was, but she had a feeling that _he_ did. She knew that Dilandau was still in her somewhere, but seldom did his memories come as vividly as they did in these dreams. He was beautiful, this young man that haunted her. She knew that he was dead, and had been for a while. She felt rage deep inside her when she thought of his death, but did not know how he died.

She would close her eyes and he was there. His eyes were fiery and more alive than those of anyone she had ever known. His eyebrows were thin arches of soft brown. His lips were smooth and tinted pink. She would feel herself reach out to him. She could even see her hands (or maybe Diladau's) near his cheek. But when she would touch him, he was gone and she would awake in tears. She would lay and sob for hours, not knowing why. When she fell asleep again, he was there again and the cycle continued.

She didn't try the fourth night. She staring at the ceiling glowing blue and silver where the light of the moon touched it. She searched her memory, a task that frightened her. She pushed through the thin barrier between Dilandau's memories and her own. She was flooded by half coherant thoughts and terrible pain. She swam thought the maddness trying to find that face. The face that lived behind her eyes and teased her with his memory.

_Who ARE you?_ She screamed in her mind-voice.

Everything went quiet. The thoughts vanished and the pain deminished. He appeared before her, floating above the bed.

He slowly decended until he was lying on top of her. He whispered in her ear.

_Migel_.

She awoke screaming and sobbing loudly. Alan was by her side in moments. 

***

Dryden awoke to darkness and frowned. He was waking up earlier and earlier. He closed his eyes and tried to sleep defiantly, but there was nothing he could do but groggily stumble to his desk and grab a book. He had no idea why, but he had had the unsatiable need to read latly, more than usual. And it was always the oddest volume that he could find.

This one was about Zaibach. He had found some pittful looking documents where the ruins of the flying fortress has fallen. This was one of the less water damaged. It had been found in a small case of metal. It had been locked and was hell to pick, but he had managed it. All to find nothing but a short journal with strange writing in it. Nothing else. Very unlike Zaibach.

He pulled out the notes he had taken while trying to decipher the book's strange dialect and contined to make his way through the journal, treading along at a rather slow pace. The next time he looked up, daylight was filtering into his window. He sighed heavily and went back to his translation. As he read it over his eyes became wide and his jaw dropped a little.

"This has _got_ to be a dream," he muttered to himself.

He read it again, and then again before snapping the book closed and jumping out of his chair.

"Time to meet up with some old friends!" 

***

The sun was in the middle of the sky before Merle came out of her room. She slinked through the halls and hopped onto a window sill.

A cool breeze was blowing. Perhaps a good sign. Maybe Van-sama would be in a better mood.

"But what do _I_ care?" she moaned aloud, "He'll still be stuck on _Hitomi_.

She hopped back off the sill and sauntered down the hall.

The loud sound of running footsteps was suddenly fast approaching behind her. She turned just in time to be smacked into by a little boy.

"W-Who...What?...When?" she questioned as she pushed him off of her.

"V-Van-sama wants you to go see him right now!"

"Well, where _is_ he?"

The boy pointed out a nearby window. A huge trade ship sat not too far away.

"Dryden?" she pondered aloud as she ran full speed toward the door.

"I thought you might want t come along with us, Merle." Van said distantly.

"That's right! This might be quite interesting." Dryden added, "We might be able to find out more about Celena's little problem and some other things about Zaibach as well."

Merle grabbed Van's arm and held it tight. "If Van's going, I am!"

"I don't exactly understand." Van said, "What exactly is this all about? And why is it so important that I come along? I don't like leaving Fanelia.

"Can't you just trust me?" Dryden grinned, "Nah, I wouldn't either. Okay, It's a _feeling_ I have."

"A feeling?"

"As much as I wish it were, something about all of this doesn't feel finished. This book might be proof of that very thing."

"You're dragging me to Austuria on a hunch? Is that what you're saying?"

"You'll understand when I tell you what's in this book."

"Well...tell me now then."

"Can't."

"Why?"

"You'll see."

Van sighed heavily and walked away from Dryden with Merle still attatched to his arm, and sat down near a window to look out at his kingdom as they flew off to Austeria.


	4. Controlling Fate

Celena hated doctors. The way they walked, the way they spoke, the way they constantly patronized their patients. Psychologists were the worst. And now, here she was sitting (not laying, she would not lay down near a doctor) on a psychologist's couch, Alan nearby.

"I am Doctor Jakor." He was middle aged, bald, broad shouldered. "I have been told of your... unique situation. Your brother tells me that you woke some nights ago screaming."

Celena nodded.

"Why?"

She sighed. "I saw a young man floating over me."

"Do you know this young man."

"Sort of. His name is Migel."

"How do you know him?"

"I don't know."

"I see," he said knowingly, scratching down something on his notepad. She crossed her arms over her stomach and dug her fingernails into her flesh to stop herself. To stop herself from what? Killing him? Alan was just as infuriating as the doctor, but with better intentions. She only wished that both of them would stop looking at her as if she had a fatal disease.

"Is he from your past, or Dilandau's past?"

"Dilandau's," she said through clenched teeth.

"Is something wrong?"

_Oh nothing._ She thought angrily. _I really like being treated like a five year old._.

"Nothing," she said aloud.

"What do you know about this young man who appeared to you? What did he look like?"

"He was tall. He looked about my age. Brown hair. His eyes," she paused, "His eyes are gray, I think. He said his name was Migel. I think he's dead."

Alan placed his hand on her arm. "Migel?" he asked. She nodded. He looked away slowly and took a deep breath.

"What is the matter?" asked the doctor.

"That name. Migel. It was the name of one of the Dragon Slayers that Dilandau led."

The image of his face flashed in her mind again, so crystal clear is stung. She bit her lip fiercely and dug her nails further into her arms. The last thing she needed was to make a scene in front of the shrink.

"Very interesting." Dr. Jakor said.

"He didn't die with the rest of them." Celena whispered.

"No," said Alan, "He died in Freid I believe."

Blind rage filled her suddenly, stronger than that toward the doctor or her brother. She stood abruptly and ran out of the room, slamming the door behind her and leaning against it. She wanted to scream. Why?

Alan was trying to open the door, but she clutched at the knob with all of her strength. Another face appeared in her mind, but this one strange and half hidden. The wide, green eyes glowed, the skin was gray with black stripes.

Anger.

So much anger.

Finally, she was distracted from the rage by footsteps coming down the hall. Light, quick and feminine. She knew it was Milerna before she saw her.

"Where is Alan?" she said. Her tone of voice seemed slightly worried.

Celena released the door knob and stepped away, letting Alan join them in the hall. Before he could say anything to Celena, Milerna spoke.

"Alan! Van and Dryden are here. They want to talk to you about something. Dryden says it's very important." She grabbed Alan's arm and dragged him down the hallway. "You too, Celena," she called over her shoulder.

***

"You're probably all wondering why I showed up." Dryden paced back and forth in front of the five old friends with a worn volume in his grasp. "And you're probably wondering why I've been so secretive about it. I wanted you all here. This concerns all of us."

"How?" asked Alan, impatience obvious in his voice. Celena elbowed him gently. They both knew how little the two men liked each other.

"This," said Dryden, holding up the book, "Is one of the record books retrieved from the Floating fortress after Dornkirk was defeated."

"The one that no one's decoded?" asked Van.

"Yes. Until a few nights ago."

"You know what it says?" Celena leaned forward in anticipation. Dryden smiled at her.

"Merely a stroke of genius. What I found is the reason I've brought you all together. Celena, if I'm not mistaken, you've been having trouble connected to your past lately, haven't you? Maybe trouble sleeping?"

"That is a family matter," Alan said, indignantly.

Celena elbowed her brother again, this time, less gently, "Yes, Dryden, I have." Alan gave her a stern look, but she disregarded it.

"I have as well," Van said, quietly.

"I'm not surprised. Both of you have reason to have little sleep. A reason that's been amplified of late."

"I don't follow," said Alan.

"Celena," he turned to her and took a step in her direction, "In this book, there is a full description of what experiments were done to you as a child, as well as the guinea pigs before you. All of the prior experiments died, except one. He was locked up in a cave south of here. That cave is very near the Mountain of the Damned. You probably all know that this place is where warriors who died before their time go to spend eternity, but what you don't know is that Dornkirk built a second Fate Alteration machine under that mountain."

The room was quiet for a very long time. Celena was the first brave enough to break it.

"What does that have to do with the... guinea pig you mentioned?"

Dryden smiled, "He was unendingly loyal to Dornkirk and Dornkirk in turn seems to have trusted him. It is said in this book that on the event of Dornkirk's death, the cell that the boy was in would be opened. The cave that the cell is in is part of the Mountain of the Damned. If I had to guess, that's the one who will activate the machine."

Migel's face flashed in Celena's mind again, this time it said something.

_Come to me. Find me._

"We have to go there," she said.

Alan furrowed his brow and shook his head. "Van, Dryden and I will go. You will stay here. Milerna and Eris will look after you."

_Come to me_

"No, Alan! I have to come."

"The Mountain of the Damned is dangerous," said Van.

"More so if Dryden's information is correct." Alan took hold of her arm. "This is for your safety."

She jerked her arm free of his grasp, "I can defend myself, Alan Schezar," she hissed in a voice very much unlike her own.

Alan's eyes widened and he drifted back slowly.

"I think she's right," Dryden said, a hint of humor in his voice. "Either way, before we go running off into the sunset we need to rest for the remainder of the day, then get things ready tomorrow. That way, we'll be off for the mountain by tomorrow evening."

"Agreed," said Van, standing with Merle attached to his arm.

Alan nodded and stood as well. "If Milerna and Queen Eris don't mind, I think it would be best if we stayed in the castle. For safety."

Milerna smiled brightly at Alan, then gave a nervous look towards Dryden. "Yes, that would be wonderful. I'd be glad to have all of you stay in Austeria again."

Alan gave Celena a hand up and as they walked out of their home he whispered in her ear. "We'll talk about this in private."

She knew that he wouldn't want her coming along, but she really didn't care. Migel was waiting there for her. If she ever wanted to sleep again, she would go to him.

***

Caleb watched Kiteal working on the huge machine. Its pulsating hum burned into his brain. He wished it would stop for just a few seconds so that there would be silence. But there never was.

Kiteal didn't talk much to Caleb, but he seemed to talk to himself or the machine almost constantly. It was beginning to irritate Caleb as much as the unending humming.

"You have told me why I'm here." Caleb said. At least a conversation would break the monotony.

Kiteal looked sideways at him and continued working. "To help me."

"I know. But help you what?"

Kiteal shrugged, "Father knows. I must find out."

"Father." Caleb paused. "You mean that machine?"

The odd man smiled strangely. "In a way."

Caleb sighed irritably and sunk back against the wall in a half sitting, half laying position.

"You don't make any sense."

"I do. _You_ don't understand."

"Then explain it to me."

Kiteal's hands dropped to his sides and he turned to Caleb. "Does everyone from the Mystic Moon ask so many questions?"

Caleb shrugged, "In a situation like this, I think anyone vaguely human would."

Kiteal laughed unnecessarily loudly and walked over to Caleb, sitting across from him.

"You are the chosen one. You will help me fulfill my father's wishes. He left me to finish what he started."

"What did he start?"

"A new way of life. A peaceful existence."

Caleb knit his brows together. _He doesn't seem like the kind of guy that would have such a good motive. He's not even a *guy*._

Kiteal smiled warmly and reached out to touch Caleb's face, but he jerked back, hitting his head against the wall. Kiteal sighed.

"I understand that you have reservations, but I assure you that I would not go to all of this trouble to do something bad. This world is constantly on the brink of war. Deep down, everyone hates everyone else. That will _always_ lead to war eventually. With the help of my father's machine, I can make sure that no one will ever harm anyone else _ever_."

Caleb rubbed the back of his head where it was sore. Kiteal smiled again.

"You control fate," Kiteal said, "If you think something bad will happen, it will. You thought something bad would happen if I touched your face, so you caused something bad to happen." He reached forward again. This time, Caleb allowed him to make contact. "You see?"

The boy from the mystic moon nodded slowly.

_He may be weird,_ he thought, _but his touch feels good. At least this way, I won't be alone._


	5. Twilight

Alan finally left Celena alone in her room. The argument had been shorter than she had expected. Her brother couldn't change her mind and at last he was starting to realize that. She wasn't the fragile flower that he wanted her to be. Dilandau wouldn't allow that. Alan, the doctors, everyone insisted that Dilandau was gone. Celena knew better.

She reached under her bed and grasped the long, velvet-covered object that lie in the shadows. The moon was bright tonight. Plenty of light to practice by. She slid out of her door and ran silently up the stairs to the upper balcony. Once there, she slid the velvet bag off of the sword. No one liked it that she kept Dilandau's sword, but she couldn't part with it. It was as much a part of her as her arms and legs were. It was as much a part of Dilandau as her arms and legs were as well. They all forgot that part.

*Because it's easier to forget.* She unsheathed the sword. Her sword. *It's easier to think that I'm just a little girl.* The sword sung as it cut through the air. *It's easier to think that I WANT to be just a little girl.* She swung the sword vehemently, first right, then left, then right again.

"I'm. Not. Helpless!" She growled between swings.

"Obviously," Dryden said, as he stepped away from the shadow of one of the pillars.

Her head snapped towards the voice. She forced herself to put her sword down. It was a friend. Not an enemy.

"What are you doing here?" Celena demanded.

He shrugged. "You seem interesting. But every time I've met you, you're being hidden behind your brother." He grinned. "You know, he doesn't like me very much."

"I also know the feeling's mutual," she said as she re-sheathed the sword.

He smiled a noncommittal smile. "Do you often fight so viciously with the night air?"

"When I can." 

"Alan doesn't like it much, does he?" 

She chuckled and mimicked her brother's voice, "Young ladies should not have interest in such things. Young ladies sit around and look pretty." She spoke in her own voice, "Really, I don't want to have the same job description as a lawn ornament." 

He laughed unnecessarily loudly as he closed the gap between them a bit further. "I have to agree. Though, fighting's never much interested me. I can see how going from a leader to a fifteen year old girl can have some down sides. Especially with Alan as a brother." 

"It's funny," she said quietly, "You're the only person that's mentioned my past as though it belonged to me. It's nice to hear." 

She studied him intently with her bright blue eyes. Dryden felt as though he was being silently interrogated. He met her gaze and kept it for several minutes. 

"Dryden, what are you..." They broke eye contact at Alan's voice. "Celena! What are the two of you doing up here?" Alan cast a harsh look toward the merchant. 

"I came up here to think," said Celena calmly, "Dryden happened to find me." 

Alan ignored her and went straight for Dryden. "You should stay away from my sister." 

Celena grabbed Alan by his shoulder and spun him around to look at her. The sword at her hip made her bolder. 

"Who I befriend is *my* business, honored brother. I would appreciate it if you would speak directly to me if you have a problem with it. Dryden is, after all, a guest. Have you forgotten your manners?" 

Dryden smiled and bowed slightly. "I'll take my leave of both of you now. I will see you in the morning." 

Alan tried to speak, but Celena's glare kept him silent. 

"I'm going to bed as well," she said, "Unless you have further business with me."

Alan shook his head. 

***

"We're all together again," Merle purred. "I missed this place. It's so pretty, isn't it, Lord Van?"

Van only nodded.

*He wishes SHE was here,* she thought with a small frown.

"Van..."

"Merle, please," he said, "I have a lot to think about."

"You only think about one thing," she growled under her breath. If he heard her, he was ignoring her. His eyes were focused on the sword that he was sharpening.

Merle got up from the floor and sat behind him on his bed. She kneaded his shoulders, trying to release some of the tension he held in them. He stopped working at his sword when she hit a particularly tender spot and began to work at it.

"As tense as your muscles are, you'd think you were carrying Gaea on your back."

Van hissed out a slow breath as he began to relax at her touch. The little cat girl was right. She knew him too well to be wrong about him. She was the only one he could relax this much around. He knew she would never leave him. Not like everyone else did. His father, his mother, his brother... Hitomi. Being able to touch her mind from afar wasn't enough, though he was loathe to admit it. He felt alone, even when their thoughts were one.

"Merle?"

"Yes, Lord Van?"

"Thank you for being here."

She chortled happily and nuzzled her face into his shoulder.

"Where else would I be?"


End file.
